Relearning GG, some beginner's advice is welcome

I played for PS2, but this was before I got into competitive fighting. My friend bought the PS3 game, so I'm trying to relearn so I may be as good with Chipp or Milia as I am with Tager or Noel in BB. But I learned them through challenge mode and practicing my own versions of challenges in Score Attack/Arcade. The only thing shared in GG is Arcade, and I'm having the trouble of not being able to discern button presses in videos but not being able to discern timing in notation. So in GG, how would a "Challenge Mode user" learn a character?

(Seriously. Watch vids, take notes. Practice, practice, practice in training and play against your friend a lot. Try to encourage him to keep with it as well)

EDIT: I realize the above may sound like a quick, BS response, but it's true. As you mentioned, GG doesn't have challenge mode and it's a tough, intricate game. That being said, some characters like Millia have so much character specific stuff that a challenge mode would probably not even be enough in some regards. I'm not saying don't play a character because you think that character is hard, by all means do it. I just mean that to say that a challenge mode may not even be as beneficial as it is in other games, so you've gotta do it the old fashioned way.

Yes, but when attempting to learn I find videos (where I cannot determine exact input) and notation (where I cannot determine timing), but not both. It can make learning very frustrating when you realize you still have no idea what you're doing. Is there a site somewhere or some known videos where I can get the demonstration and the notation?